


Secret Keeper

by ferryberry



Category: Glee
Genre: Angst, F/F, Friendship, One Shot, POV Third Person, Romantic Comedy, Smut
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2011-01-29
Updated: 2011-01-29
Packaged: 2018-04-07 06:41:10
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 12,843
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4253256
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ferryberry/pseuds/ferryberry
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>S1. Brittany knows a secret, but somebody might have forgotten to tell her a tiny detail about secret keeping...</p>
            </blockquote>





	Secret Keeper

**Author's Note:**

> Disclaimer: I own nothing. All belongs to Glee writers and creators.

"We just heard. Who told?" Santana interrupted as she and Brittany buzzed in.

"We assumed it was you," Artie replied flatly.

She scoffed. "Why would I do that?" she retorted irritably, rolling her eyes.

"To get back at Puck. Aren't you guys dating?" Kurt asked suspiciously.

"Sex is not dating," Santana snapped back, wondering how badly it would hurt if she threw her cell phone at him the next time they saw each other.

"If it were, Rachel and Quinn would be dating," Brittany said sagely.

Santana froze so abruptly she dropped her phone, and they heard four simultaneous bellows of " _WHAT_?" emanate from where it lay on the floor.

Brittany winced, pulling her phone away from her ear to pout at it. Oblivious to Santana gaping at her, she put her mouth to the phone and shouted, "I _said_ , if it were, Rachel and Quinn would be dating!"

"Oh, my God!" Mercedes exclaimed.

"Mary and Jesus," Kurt added.

"Not to mention, Joseph," Artie whimpered.

"Britt, are you serious?" Mercedes asked firmly, voice stronger this time.

There was no answer.

"Brittany, if you don't answer me, I swear, I—"

"Emergency meeting in the choir room— _now_ ," Santana barked, just before the sound of a dial tone.

#

"San, I still don't understand what's going on," Brittany said, roughly two and a half minutes later.

Mercedes checked Mr. Schuester's office. "Clear."

"Doors locked," Artie added, wheeling back to Tina's side.

"Now. Brittany, would you mind repeating that for us again?" Kurt asked, folding his arms.

She frowned at the five of them, all lined up with folded arms while she sat on the piano bench.

"Am I in trouble?" she stage-whispered to Santana, who shook her head.

"Just say it again," Santana ordered, though not unkindly.

Brittany huffed. "I _said_. If it _were_. Rachel and Quinn would be _dating_."

"If s-sex were?" Tina squeaked uncomfortably.

"Yes!" Brittany exclaimed, frustrated. "San, what's going on?"

"What's going on is that Rachel and Quinn have been doing the nasty, if what you're saying is true," Mercedes cut in.

Santana glowered at her, but said nothing. She looked a little too green around the gills to do much more.

"Of course they have," Brittany said, shrugging.

"What do you mean, _of course_ they have?" Kurt yelped. "This is the most unnatural pairing since that dog fell in love with that monkey!"

The others nodded in agreement, but Brittany frowned.

"It is?" she asked.

"Britt, do you not get this? This is _Rachel_ and _Quinn_!" Mercedes emphasized.

"Yeah, they hate each other," Tina said quietly. "Or, or Quinn hates Rachel. And plus, isn't Quinn like…really Christian?"

"Recently reformed," Santana supplied. "But still straight. As far as we knew." Her scowl grew.

"Quinn doesn't hate Rachel!" Brittany said, clearly upset by the notion.

"Brittany, sweetie, forgive me, but…this isn't something you're making up, is it?" Kurt asked tentatively.

"Hey, why don't you try shutting the fuck up, Hairspray?" Santana snarled, stepping toward him. Mercedes held her arm up to block her, and she—barely—obeyed the unspoken command. "Britt wouldn't lie about something like this."

She backed down when Kurt gave a hesitant nod, and Mercedes and Tina breathed a sigh of relief. Brittany sighed.

"I still don't understand. Why is everyone upset?" she asked, glancing around at the faces filled with shock.

There was a moment of silence.

"Brittany, how did you find out about this?" Artie inquired eventually.

"Yeah, how long has it been going on?" Tina added eagerly.

"Does Finn know?" Kurt asked urgently.

"Does _Puck_ know?" Mercedes tacked on.

Brittany's eyes widened with all the questions being fired at her. "No. Nobody knows but me." She smiled suddenly. "They said I'm special, so I'm the only one they're telling." The rest of them exchanged glances. "Quinn was really, really mad at first, though."

"How long?" Santana repeated gravely, easing down next to her on the piano bench.

"Umm…how long was two months ago?"

"Oh, my _God_!" Mercedes repeated, and she plopped into the nearest chair so she wouldn't fall down.

"How did you find out?" Kurt pressed. "And don't spare us details. We want the dirt."

"I actually don't need the gory details, thanks," Artie contradicted. "The mental image is pretty much enough."

"Agreed," Santana growled.

"Brittany, you don't mind telling us, do you?" Tina asked gently.

She shook her head. "Nope."

#

Brittany skipped down the empty hallway, bathroom pass swinging from her arm. She really wasn't getting what was going on in Spanish today without Quinn there, and that was usually when she asked for the bathroom pass.

It was weird. Quinn was at first period, but not second. And Brittany hadn't gotten a chance to apologize for ditching her for Coach Sylvester's group in first period because Santana wanted fun time. But Quinn would be at Cheerios practice, so she could just apologize then.

She smiled at the thought and headed for the stairs. She was going to Santana's class, which was upstairs, to see if she could manage to get a bathroom pass, too. It was harder for Santana, because her image wasn't as innocent. Or at least that's what San said.

Brittany was almost to the stairs when she started hearing a lot of moaning and grunting, but it didn't bother her. People made out in the hallways a lot between classes. Usually in the janitor's closet or something, but it wasn't surprising to find a couple that had gotten carried away against the lockers. And usually Puck was one of them.

But these were all feminine groans—which, again, didn't bother her. For fairly obvious reasons.

There were a couple of louder moans and then Brittany turned to go up the stairs, but stopped when she saw a familiar red Cheerios uniform with a neat blonde ponytail on the landing. She almost blurted hello right then and there, but then she realized Quinn wasn't alone, so she tried to see who it was so she could say hello to them, too. No need to be rude, after all.

The leg hooked around Quinn's hip looked familiar for some reason, Brittany knew that much, as did the hand cupping her neck. Brittany frowned. Well, she would just say hello anyway.

"Hi, Quinn!" she said brightly, and when Quinn whipped her head around, she saw who it was. "Hi, Rachel!"

"Fuck!" Quinn roared, tearing herself off Rachel and adjusting her Cheerios uniform.

Rachel flushed so red Brittany was afraid she was going to pass out, and she started hurriedly shoving down her skirt and buttoning up her blue blouse. It was a pretty blouse.

"What's wrong?" Brittany asked, frowning.

Quinn looked like she was going to kill her. She hated it when Quinn looked like that. It always put San in a bad mood, too, and then Brittany had no one fun to hang out with.

"If you tell _anyone_ what you just saw," Quinn snarled, descending the steps toward her, "I will kill you myself. Do you understand?"

Brittany could only stare at her, stunned.

"Quinn!" Rachel scolded, standing up straight now. "Don't talk to her like that!" She looked really mad, too.

Quinn whirled again. " _Don't_ tell me what to do, Man Hands."

"Lovely, Quinn. That's _very_ mature," she retorted, folding her arms as she came down the steps, too. "Every time I think we're about to make progress, you—"

" _Progress_? Is that what you call this? This was a _mistake_!" she bellowed, right in Rachel's face.

Brittany winced. She hated it even more when Quinn yelled. Rachel still just looked mad.

"Yes, I can see now that it was," she said quietly.

Quinn growled. "Don't do that."

"Do what, exactly? Hurt your feelings?"

"You did _not_ hurt me. You don't have the _power_ to hurt me," she barked back, voice louder again. "This was these damn pregnancy hormones _fucking_ with my head, and nothing more."

"Blame it on what you want, but this was _your_ mistake. _You_ kissed _me_ ," Rachel replied intensely, and Brittany started to admire her. She was a very strong person to stand up to Quinn like this. "So don't try to pass it off as my fault, and don't you dare take this out on Brittany. She didn't do anything wrong."

Quinn fumed, clenching and unclenching her fists. Brittany almost felt like she wasn't there anymore while the two of them glared at each other, but she thought Rachel might've won, because Quinn looked away first.

Of course, it was only to say, "If I hear that either of you made one _peep_ about this, I swear to God I will not stop until you're on par with JewFro." So maybe Quinn won.

And then she shot another glare at each of them—longer at Rachel—and pounded down the stairs. Brittany frowned at Rachel, who watched Quinn retreat for a moment before offering a smile to her.

"Are you okay?" she asked gently, and Brittany had never heard her sound so nice.

She smiled. "Yeah. Quinn loses her temper sometimes, but she always makes it up to me."

Rachel nodded and sighed, but it was all shaky—like she might cry or something—and she wouldn't meet her eyes anymore.

"Are you okay?" Brittany asked, frowning again.

"I-I'm fine," she said, smiling at her briefly. Brittany wasn't so sure, but then Rachel said, "Hey, do you like popsicles?"

She grinned. "I love them!"

Rachel's smile was stronger this time. "Come on. Ms. Morrison, the lunch lady, lets me use the freezer for a box—for emergencies, like this one." She winked, and Brittany bounced excitedly as Rachel linked their arms and led her to the cafeteria.

#

Brittany smiled. "And they were really good popsicles. I had an orange one. And—"

"Wait, wait, wait," Kurt interrupted, waving his hand dismissively at the extraneous information. "So this was just like a one time thing?"

She frowned. She didn't like being interrupted. But she answered anyway.

"No," she answered, confused.

"But you just said Quinn walked away and…it didn't sound like a happy walk away," Mercedes reminded her, and she at least looked like she wasn't going to faint anymore.

Santana still looked very green and mad. Brittany knew it was best to leave her alone until she felt better—she got very snappy if you didn't—so she turned to the rest of them.

"It wasn't. Rachel was very sad," she said sagely.

"So you and Rachel have been secret friends all this time or something?" Tina asked curiously.

"No, it's not a secret. Just Quinn and Rachel are a secret," Brittany replied.

Artie and Tina exchanged a look.

"So what happened next?" Kurt asked, captivated.

"Next?" She frowned in confusion again.

"You know, after Quinn walked away. How did they end up fornicating again?" he prodded eagerly.

"Oh! Well…."

#

Brittany had forgotten something in the locker rooms. She was almost out of the building by the time she realized it, and then she had to walk all the way back to the locker room without her shoes. She was going to need new socks.

She'd only forgotten because Cheerios practice was really rough, which made her tired, which made her forgetful. Santana was going to have to give her a massage again tonight. She smiled.

Her shoes were sitting on the bench, where she'd left them, and she sat to put them on. She was in the middle of tying the laces when she heard the sprinkle of water—someone had left the showers on. Well, that would make Coach Sylvester very mad, and anything to keep her from getting mad was a good thing, in Brittany's opinion.

She finished off her knots and stood to turn it off. That's when she heard the moaning and groaning.

It didn't bother her, of course. The locker rooms were full of moans and groans—usually of pain, but still. She stepped around the corner anyway, and she was a little surprised by what she saw.

There were dividers between shower sections, of course, so she couldn't see everything that was going on, but it was pretty obvious from the looks of intense pleasure on Quinn and Rachel's faces. Quinn's Cheerio top was on the floor just outside the stall and it was soaked, and so were they, but they didn't seem to mind. They were kissing frantically, with open mouths, and Quinn had one hand braced on the wall by Rachel's head—Rachel was the one backed against the wall again—and the other one was out of sight, so Brittany could guess what it was doing. Especially when Rachel's head rocked back with a moan.

Brittany turned back around the corner and took a moment to think. Quinn got very angry the last time Brittany caught them, so her decision not to interrupt was probably good. They were also going to be very wet when they were done.

Without a second thought, Brittany sauntered to the storage closet with extra supplies to find them towels and, just in case, workout clothes to change into. It took her a while to find clothes Rachel would like. Brittany knew her favorite color was red, but she didn't seem to like the Cheerios very much—except for Brittany, of course—so it was hard to find something red without the logo on it. Rachel was also really tiny, and it was hard to figure out what would fit her without having her try it on.

Well, she could always come back if it didn't fit. When she was certain they'd had enough time, she pranced out of storage room with supplies in hand and back down the rows of lockers to the showers. She almost had to screech to a stop, though, because now the shower was off and they weren't in it. Fortunately, they hadn't gone far.

Quinn was eyeing her soaked Cheerios top forlornly and she tossed it to one of the benches. Rachel's teeth were chattering and her shirt was drenched. Quinn grabbed a damp towel that was hanging over the divider and wrapped it around Rachel, who smiled up at her.

Brittany didn't want to interrupt when Quinn was being so sweet, but that towel was already damp, and she had fresh ones. So she called, "Hi, Quinn! Hi, Rachel!"

They jumped and stepped away from each other, and Quinn grabbed her Cheerios top to cover herself with. They were already stuttering excuses.

"I-I fell in the pool and—"

"Did you catch that freak rainstorm? It was—"

"—nice enough to lend me her towel and—"

"—had to run back in—"

Brittany smiled. They were so silly. She lifted up the towels and both jaws snapped shut.

"I brought you clothes, too," she told them. They stared at her. "Next time you should take your clothes off before you get in the shower." She nodded sagely.

Rachel snapped out of it first. She started laughing, and Brittany smiled back; even though she didn't really get the joke, Rachel had a pretty laugh. Quinn looked between them with wide eyes.

"You _saw_ us?" she demanded, but she didn't sound as angry as she did the first time.

"No, the wall was in the way."

Rachel laughed even louder and covered her mouth when Quinn glared at her.

"I mean...you saw and you...you just...got us towels?" she asked. Her voice sounded funny.

#

"And then—"

Someone started pounding on the choir room door, and all six glee members jumped, startled from the riveting tale of their friends' secret affair.

"Um, you guys? Why is the door locked?" Rachel called from the other side. "Everyone knows I use my free period to practice!"

"Oh, God, what do we do?" Artie yelped, panicked.

"Just-just act natural," Tina stammered, and they were all pretty sure it was real this time.

"Yeah! She has no idea what we've been talking about, so just…nobody stare or anything!" Kurt concluded uncomfortably.

"Hello! I can _see_ you in there! Unlock the door!"

Mercedes cleared her throat, leaping to her feet. "Uh, coming!" She looked back at her teammates one more time as she reached the door, and said lowly, "Just be cool. Keep it on the DL."

They all nodded, and she took a bracing breath and unlocked the door. She smiled overly-brightly at the confused-looking diva on the other side.

"Hey, hot mama!" Mercedes said cheerfully, and Rachel's brow knit, just as it had the first time her fellow diva used that odd nickname.

"Hi." She slowly started creeping in, eyeing her discomfited teammates uncertainly. "What were you guys doing in here? With the door locked."

"I was telling them—" Brittany started, and Santana clamped a hand over her mouth.

"About that baby bird she's keeping in her locker," she interjected. "We couldn't have some faculty member walking in and taking it away. _Right_ , guys?"

They all jumped and started exclaiming their agreement rather enthusiastically. Rachel was beyond disturbed at this point, but she shrugged and said, "Oh…kay. Well, I hope you don't mind me taking over the choir room. I'm used to practicing at this time every day; it keeps me fresh for glee rehearsals." She set her massive binder of sheet music on the piano and smiled brightly. "If you'd all like to join me, you're more than welcome—"

"Oh, gosh, I'd love to, but—"

"—there's this _thing_ with this guy and—"

"—lobotomy appointment that I just can't—"

"—have to see you later!"

Rachel rolled her eyes as the last of the excuses trailed off. "Very well, _don't_ prepare yourself for Sectionals, but do not come crying to me when we come in third place to those, what did you call them? 'Bunch of social rejects and tone deaf losers'?"

Everyone took a moment to stare at Santana.

"What? They are!"

"San, that's mean," Brittany commented.

"I agree wholeheartedly," Rachel said, and the two shared a smile.

"Well, we really have to go…and keep discussing the…the bird," Kurt said, squeaking and glancing at Brittany.

"Right. It's very important," Mercedes agreed.

"So we'll just…leave you to it."

Rachel waved them off absently, already perusing her music as they backed to the door and filed out, exchanging relieved looks. They failed to notice Brittany winking at a blonde leaning against a row of lockers down the hallway, and thus said blonde pushing herself off of them and heading stealthily toward the choir room.

#

Quinn waited until the rest of New Directions disappeared around the corner, Brittany guiding them strategically away, before cracking open the choir room door and slipping inside. Well, slipping as much as she could when she was well on her way to being a whale. God, she hated her body right now.

Rachel's gaze was narrowed on the sheet music she was organizing, but she looked up impassively when she heard the door latch shut as Quinn leaned back against it. A wave of heat traveled up her body at feeling Rachel's eyes on her, but she didn't cross the room like she wanted to. Not just yet, anyway.

Rachel cleared her throat, going back to her music. "They know."

She nodded, a sigh of…relief? Apprehension? Irritation? She wasn't sure, but it coasted past her lips and then she was back to worshipping the delightful sight in front of her, subconsciously licking her lips as she reached the curve of her breasts.

"I figured as much," she said absently. "Thank you for…doing that for me."

Rachel nodded. "What are you going to do?"

Quinn sincerely didn't know how to answer that. Her plan was well on its way, and so far things were falling into place perfectly. However, Finn and the paternity was the one thing she was still having trouble working out in her mind. No matter what she did, he would be hurt somehow. She didn't know if the truth about the baby would send him off the deep end, but she did know she didn't want to be the cause of that.

"I don't know," she said honestly.

Rachel merely nodded once more, but she didn't grace Quinn with any more attention than that. The distance was becoming too much for Quinn's half-aroused body to handle, however, so she stepped further into the room. She could see Rachel stiffen slightly, watching her out of the corner of her eye as she moved behind her, caressing chocolate locks off her shoulder and exposing her honey neck to her questing eyes and tongue.

She licked her lips and moved in, pressing herself to the soft skin she was so familiar with by now, and were it not for the shudder that traveled down Rachel's spine, she'd have thought she had no effect on her whatsoever. Because just moments after she sucked in a breath of relief at having the taste of her in her mouth again, Rachel lifted her shoulder to cut off her movements and broke away, shaking her head.

"No," she said uncomfortably. "I'm not in the mood."

She sat at the piano, setting the sheet music in her hands on the stand, and Quinn sighed. It hurt, but it was pretty much what she had been expecting. And what she deserved, after all the stunts she'd pulled in their rough, on-again, off-again relationship. So she shrugged and breathed, "Okay."

Which was the wrong thing to say, evidently, because Rachel narrowed her eyes and asked sharply, "Have you ever fought for anything in your entire existence? That you actually wanted, I mean."

Quinn idly caressed the top of the piano, gazing at her intently, and whispered, "Yes."

Rachel had no way of knowing that she meant she was right now—that's what this entire plan was about, after all—so she scoffed and turned back to the music in order to hide her hurt that Quinn hadn't fought for _her_. She wanted to fix it, to tell her everything she meant to tell her, but it wasn't time yet. She bit her tongue.

"You're still angry with me," she observed after a long moment of silence.

Rachel promptly huffed, frustrated both with Quinn and with being interrupted from her self-inflicted duty yet again.

"I'm…beyond being angry, Quinn. It's not worth the energy," she said plainly, and Quinn's heart ached at the pain in her voice. She avoided her eyes as Rachel went on. "You are never going to change, and that's fine. I don't believe either of us should have to change to suit one another's needs; it wouldn't be fair. That said, _don't_ expect me to fall back into your closet every time Brittany insists that we make up."

Quinn was on fire. Her cheeks flushed and her arms covered in goose bumps, wetness pooling in her panties. She never could resist Rachel when she spoke so passionately, that flame in her eyes and hardness to her expression. It was what got her into all this in the first place.

#

" _She'll probably try to rip off your uniform with her bare hands._ "

Quinn was lost after that. Sure, she had been growing increasingly aroused the longer her proximity and that argument with Rachel went on. But it wasn't like she was going to _do_ anything about it. Until Rachel sealed the deal with those words, and that _look_.

Her melting chocolate eyes lowered, just for a moment, and burned into the uniform, as though she was trying to see through it. As though she wanted to rip it off herself. And that look—it doomed Quinn. It was all she could think about from that moment on, and her eyes were on Rachel's lips as she ranted on, imagining them on her own lips. On her skin. Making her moan.

She was taken over by heat that engulfed her body, made her ache and burn for Rachel, and she was so far gone it didn't even occur to her that, well, she was lusting after _Rachel Berry_. All she knew was that she wanted to make her scream her name, and she was chomping at the bit to pin that body beneath her own, to dominate her and make her forget her own name.

"Oh, and I'd practice a little bit more, because you obviously have a lot you need to _express_."

The bell rang, and people started running past them to get to classes, and Quinn bared her teeth up at her prey. She was going to miss Spanish, she thought as she ground out, "Oh, you have _no_ idea," and lunged for her.

Rachel's eyes went wide briefly, but Quinn's lips had crashed into hers before she could so much as blink. The heat coursing over her body seemed to turn electric as she felt the soft lips molding underneath her own, and she placed a hand on either side of Rachel's face to keep her from escaping. She worked at the mouth underneath hers, and she may have stopped—the whole thing could have been avoided, right then and there—had Rachel not started kissing her back.

First she nipped Quinn's lip, and she whimpered and moaned at once and thought it was Rachel's way of getting her off, but then she was pulling her back down with a hand buried in her ponytail and plump lips were back on her own, and they both moaned when Quinn coaxed her mouth open and plunged her tongue into her mouth.

They were lucky there were only stragglers in the hall who wouldn't be bothered by their sounds, and people had cleared the stairs.

They were battling ferociously for dominance, Rachel scraping her nails over her back and shoving into the kiss with all the gusto she could muster, but Quinn was giving as good as she got. Her hands tangled in brunette hair and she leaned her body against the lithe, tiny frame to urge her backward, and eventually she got her way, as she always did. Rachel submitted with a moan and then they were up against the wall, and Quinn wanted nothing more than to hear that sound again.

Both were gasping for air where they could in the kiss, and Quinn decided to give the panting brunette a break for the time being, because she was hungering for something new now— _skin_. She nipped, kissed, and licked her way down Rachel's jaw, pausing to suck her earlobe and relishing in the whine that drew from Rachel before she made her way back. She pressed a firm kiss to her chin before nudging it upward with her nose, encouraging Rachel to tilt her head back and expose her neck to Quinn.

She obeyed and clutched at Quinn's shoulders, and hazel eyes feasted on the neck she wanted to mark up so badly, so everyone would know that Rachel Berry belonged to someone, to _her_ in specific. She started at her collarbone and flattened her tongue to her skin, practically purring at the salty taste as she licked a line up to her pulse point and sucked there, feeling it beat wildly against the tip of her tongue. After a moment of relishing in the fact that she was making Rachel moan and eliciting that fast heart rate, she went to town licking, nipping, and sucking at her neck, becoming frustrated when she reached the obstacle of her blouse as she attempted to coat her collarbone with nips.

She actually _growled_ , and she was so surprised by the sound that she pulled her teeth from her skin. She might've been taken out of the moment then, but Rachel was aiding her, squeezing the side of her breast and drawing a low groan from Quinn's throat before she brought her hands to the buttons on her blouse. Quinn caught on quickly and took over, feverishly kissing the skin she exposed with each loosened button. She only went down as far as her breasts, because then she was a goner.

The bra was an irritating obstacle, but for the moment she was happy to lave her tongue over the exposed parts of Rachel's breasts, hands creeping up to massage from beneath in order to keep Rachel from going _completely_ mad with need. Her knees were slightly bent to make her angle easier, and her calves were burning with the effort of maintaining the position, but she couldn't care less when she had Rachel Berry pressed against a wall and writhing and moaning with want.

Quinn couldn't believe how fast her heart was racing, and the heat…she was sweating and under normal circumstances, she thought she might've passed out by now, but somehow she kept going, even when Rachel tugged at her ponytail, calling her back to meet her eyes. Quinn kissed her again and Rachel whimpered into it, giving in briefly before pulling back and panting, "Quinn, please."

She knew what she wanted, and she heard herself growl again and watched the chocolate eyes blaze and darken at the sound. While one hand remained cupping a breast through the fabric of her bra, her thumb circulating around a hard nipple and making Rachel groan, the other slid down her side. She felt Rachel's breaths heave against the palm of her hand as she panted in anticipation and grinned wickedly, distracting her with another rough, lingering kiss. She eased her hand over the curve of her hip, squeezing it appreciatively before she reached a toned thigh. It quivered as she teased her fingers over the sensitive flesh in the back and Rachel gasped, obediently lifting her leg as Quinn brought it around her waist.

Damn, those long legs…how had she ever not noticed how, well, _hot_ they were?

She tossed the thought aside and addressed the problem of their new position, which was slightly unbalanced with her hand in the crook of Rachel's knee, helping her keep the leg up. It would be even worse in a moment, she reflected. Her other hand reluctantly abandoned her breast in order to brace her against the wall, and then she brought her leg up between Rachel's thighs and Rachel moaned and Quinn gasped at the scorching heat and soaking wetness she'd discovered.

Before she could blink, Rachel had her lips between her own and she eagerly reciprocated, making sure they were both comfortable enough as she rolled her thigh up against Rachel's centre, drawing a long, low moan from her talented throat. Once she was confident that this wasn't in any way hurting Rachel, Quinn allowed her hand to leave the wall long enough to lift her skirt slightly, making her job easier and making sure nothing was between them but the thin layer of her panties. Her hand went back to the wall and her eyes met Rachel's, and she growled her desire before thrusting into her with renewed vigor, eliciting a gasp from Rachel.

Their bodies collided smoothly with each grind, Quinn moving at a relentless, hurried, and rough pace as she pressed herself into Rachel's wetness, determined to make her come. For her part, Rachel was helpless to do much but moan, letting her head and eyes roll back with pleasure as she dug her nails into the back of Quinn's Cheerios uniform, bracing herself against the unyielding thrusts.

Moans turned to half-cries and pants turned to grunts from the effort of it all, and they were both covered in sweat, but Quinn never looked away from Rachel's face, watching her expressions, her struggle to keep her eyes open, her parted lips that, while so deliciously kissable, were left untouched because Quinn didn't want to miss a second of this.

She felt Rachel's hands slide farther down, to her lower back, clutching each time she ground into her and pressing, and she understood the message. She picked up the pace, despite the fact that this was killing the leg she was relying on for balance, and after a few seconds of this, Rachel cried out and Quinn hurried to shift her stance to both feet when Rachel went limp, holding her up with her body as she rode out her orgasm. She didn't think to let go of her knee.

After a few moments, the panting diva leaned back again, meeting her eyes with a smoldering look that, had Quinn not been burning with need already, would've had her wet in a millisecond. She reached up to caress her neck, and Quinn shuddered at the feel and hoped beyond hope that Rachel was going to give her that sweet release she so desperately needed and—

"Hi, Quinn!"

#

Rachel was peering at her with a frown, as though she was wondering exactly where Quinn had gone for the past few minutes. She shook herself, a chill traveling over her body.

"You're right. You shouldn't have to change," she said at length.

And then she smiled, just a little, and left Rachel to her thoughts. She had a few things to do, after all, and Rachel clearly wasn't in the mood to talk. Brittany, however, should be.

#

"And so then we decided Freddy really _would_ be the best name for him, because he's got this cute little tuft of feathers on the top of his head that looks just like Freddy the guy in the window at McDonalds's," Brittany chattered as the group of misfits followed her into the empty gymnasium.

They exchanged disturbed looks before Mercedes asked, "Okay, what the hell is she talking about?"

Santana opened her mouth to reprimand the diva for interrupting, but Brittany had already turned to answer her.

"I thought you guys wanted to hear about my baby bird," she said, puzzled.

"You mean you actually _have_ one?" Tina gasped, wide-eyed.

"In your locker?" Artie added, feeling just a little freaked out.

"B," Santana said gently, taking her hand and shooting the others glares over top of the blonde head. "When we said we wanted to talk about the bird, we meant we wanted to hear more about Quinn and Rachel."

She frowned. "Oh."

"Yes, personally, I'm a little confused," Kurt announced. "If this started two months ago, that would mean Rachel was dating Puck shortly after that. Are they…ahem, 'open'?"

Brittany shook her head, but before she could answer, Mercedes nodded in agreement.

"Yeah, and wasn't she crushing on Mr. Schue a while back?" she asked, nose wrinkling in disgust at the memory. That was even more disturbing than Rachel and Quinn, honestly.

"And it hasn't been long since Tubbers tried to snatch Puckerman out from under me," Santana added with a roll of the eyes.

It wasn't like she actually cared if Quinn dated Puck. She just didn't like other people touching her stuff when she wasn't done with it yet.

Brittany rested her chin on her palm, and the others stared at her until she asked, "What?"

"Are you planning on clearing all that up, or…?" Artie prodded.

"Oh, you're done? Okay!" She cheered up, sitting up straight, and smiled. "See, what happened is that after I caught them the first time, Rachel was very sad and so was Puck, so they were, like, passing the time together. And then, after she dumped Puck because she doesn't like him that way, I caught them in the shower. And they were doing it for a really long time, but then Quinn was stupid."

She frowned deeply. It was a very dark time for her.

#

Brittany wiped her eyes and pulled another tissue from the pack her mom had given her that morning, blowing her nose hard. It was a chilly morning, but her Cheerios jacket was keeping her mostly warm. It didn't warm her heart.

"Britt?" a sweet voice prompted, and she looked up from the grass to find a very blurry-looking Rachel.

She was…Blachel. She had her hands in her pockets, and Brittany wondered if she came to feed the ducks, too. She would be so disappointed. She sniffled.

"Hi, Rachel," she said forlornly.

"What's wrong?" she asked softly, and Brittany leaned into her shoulder when she eased into the spot next to her.

Rachel rubbed circles on her back, which made her feel better.

"I came to feed the ducks this morning like I always do on Saturdays. They know that's when I come visit," she explained sorrowfully, wiping her cheeks on her sleeves. "But they're gone! They're all gone."

Rachel took a breath, and said, slowly, "Well, Brittany, it is getting pretty cold lately. They've probably just—"

"Migrated?" she finished, smiling a little.

Blurry Rachel looked mildly surprised.

"I know, but…I wanted to say goodbye. They could've at least warned me they were going," she said, pouting.

Rachel considered her for a long moment before saying, fondly, "You know, Brittany, you're a lot smarter than people give you credit for. It's unfair, really."

She smiled. "San says that, too. She says I'm the smartest person she knows."

"Perhaps she's not quite as thickheaded as I thought she was," she replied playfully, and Brittany giggled, wiping her eyes again.

Her vision cleared a little bit, and that was when her face fell and she felt like crying, because Rachel's eyes were red and there were tear tracks down her cheeks, and she looked _so sad_.

"Rach," she whimpered, and Rachel looked at her in concern. "You're crying, too."

She swiped her thumb across her cheek, and Rachel smiled sadly.

"I'm okay. Just…things with Quinn," she said nonchalantly, shrugging.

There was a feeling of dread in the middle of Brittany's stomach. "What happened?"

"She ended things with me."

"She broke up with you?" she exclaimed, on the verge of rising and going to give Quinn a piece of her mind.

"You can't break up with someone you're not dating," Rachel said calmly, and Brittany frowned at her.

"What did she say?" she asked curiously. If she said anything mean, she was going to steal Quinn's favorite pen.

Rachel tossed her hair and sighed, saying casually, "We were discussing her…situation and, well, she expressed her fear that her parents will react poorly when they find out. I made the mistake of telling her that not only would she be welcome, but I would _want_ her to…move in with me, should they kick her out. She promptly informed me that our relationship is restricted to sexual relations and that I mean very little to her." She swallowed. "She said a variety of other things, all boiling down to the fact that…she simply doesn't want me anymore, particularly if I'm going to get attached when I shouldn't."

Brittany lurched forward and wrapped Rachel in the biggest hug she was capable of, squeezing her tight and letting her tears stream down her cheeks. Rachel sniffled and asked her not to cry, but she couldn't help herself, and they held each other for a long time before finally pulling back and cleaning each other's cheeks of tears.

"Quinn's dumb," Brittany said, and Rachel laughed through her sniffles.

"No. Just scared," she corrected gently.

"Sometimes that's the same thing," she replied sagely. "San's dumb, too, if it makes you feel any better."

Rachel frowned, puzzled. "What do you mean?"

"She says that stuff to me, too."

#

"Okay! I think we get it, and we can move on now, right, guys?" Santana exclaimed, fidgeting with her Cheerios skirt.

They all looked at her, and with the combined glares of four gleeks, Santana Lopez actually shifted to hide behind Brittany, who was oblivious to her fellow glee clubbers' disapproval.

"You seriously tell Britt that she doesn't mean anything to you outside of sex?" Tina snapped, folding her arms.

"You guys have sex?" Artie asked.

"Of all the selfish, rude, cruel—" Kurt ranted, close to hyperventilating, and Mercedes stroked his arm to calm him down.

He folded his arms and refused to look at the Cheerio, who scowled.

"Look, you guys don't know what it's like, all right?" she growled. "Being popular and having a religious family and having all this pressure and shit and feeling the way I do? You don't get it. At all, and you never will. It's not exactly easy for me."

"Plus she told me she loves me the other day," Brittany informed them brightly, and kissed the bright red Latina's cheek.

Grins cracked all four faces and Santana glared, and, well, let's face it. She was still Santana fucking Lopez, and she was damn scary. They all turned studious and looked at Brittany expectantly.

"So Quinn broke things off…" Mercedes said, prompting Brittany to continue.

"Right, and then Rachel was really depressed and she was trying to distract herself with Mr. Schuester because she thought nobody loved her, but I told her I did and then she felt better, and _then_ Quinn was even dumber. She was freaking out about her pregnancy and wanted to see if Puck could do a good job supporting her, and she asked Kurt to give Rachel a makeover to distract Finn, which in a weird way worked out for Rachel since she was trying to make Quinn jealous at the time."

"Hey! She told me she wanted Rachel to get a makeover so the judges wouldn't…you know, judge us at Sectionals," Kurt said, feeling offended. "Sneaky little—"

"She knew you love Finn, so she didn't think you would go for giving Rachel a makeover to impress him," Brittany explained.

Kurt's jaw dropped, and the others looked at him impassively.

"I don't know why you're so shocked," Mercedes commented.

"It's about as obvious as Coach Sylvester's love for tracksuits," Santana added.

Kurt merely scoffed and folded his arms, proceeding to pout.

"So then after Rachel figured out what Kurt and Quinn did, she was really upset and wouldn't talk to her, and Quinn was really sad, too, but she wouldn't stop being dumb. So I told her I would take her out for ice cream, but then I really took her to Rachel's house and Rachel forgave Quinn, but she's still sad that Quinn doesn't love her even though she really does, so then Quinn told me she has a plan, and the first step was to have Rachel find out if you guys know about Finn not being the father, and…I don't really know what's supposed to happen there, but then I was supposed to find the perfect moment to tell you about her and Rachel to see how you would react and then if you guys are cool with it, you're supposed to help her do a number for Rachel so she knows she loves her."

She paused, thinking, while the other five gaped at her wordlessly. It was really unattractive, actually, how far their jaws were hanging open.

"Did I forget anything, Quinn?" she asked suddenly, turning toward the end of the bleachers.

The pregnant blonde appeared, and the five only got more unattractive when their eyes bulged. She smirked.

"No, I think that's just about everything, Britt."

#

Quinn was getting impatient. The half of the glee club that was now privy to knowledge of her affair with Rachel had been gaping, open-mouthed, at her for the better part of a few minutes, and even Brittany was starting to look mildly concerned.

Frankly, Quinn didn't have time for this. She had a baby to worry about, two teenage boys to handle, and a brunette diva to win over. So she drummed her fingers idly on her baby bump, not allowing her happiness at feeling an answering kick to overwhelm her outward expression of irritation.

"Well? Do you intend on helping me or not?" she snapped, and it instantly broke the five glee clubbers out of their trance.

"What the hell, Q?" Santana barked; Quinn only rolled her eyes.

"How could you not have told us about this?" Mercedes asked, wounded.

"Why did you leave Brittany to do it?" Artie added.

Quinn had an answer for this surprisingly intelligent question. "Were any of you tempted, even once, to yell at Brittany?"

There was silence.

"That's what I thought. Besides, our story simply sounds better coming from her."

Brittany grinned. "Thanks, Quinn!"

She dipped her chin, but her eyes remained on the other five, who looked varying levels of angry, shocked, and just plain hurt. Santana was leaning more toward the angry, though Quinn knew she was burying hurt beneath the familiar emotion.

"So in other words, instead of growing some balls and telling us to our faces that you've been sneaking around like a little bitch for months, you decided to take the coward's way out, just like you did with Berry," she snarked, shaking her head in disgust.

"Just like you did with Brittany," Quinn retorted, and Santana bristled.

"Don't go there," she snarled.

Quinn was unfazed. "And why not? You treated the woman you love just as well as I did mine, pretending otherwise is just hypocritical."

She faltered. "Why didn't you tell me you were boning her, huh? I'm supposed to be your best friend. And don't even bother trying to throw that back at me; you knew damn well Britts and I were sleeping together."

"I did, but much like you, I didn't want to talk about it," Quinn reasoned, voice going surprisingly soft. "That would've meant facing what it meant, and I wasn't ready for that."

The others exchanged glances, ultimately looking back at Quinn and Santana with sympathy in their eyes, staying respectfully quiet through their silent heart-to-heart. Brittany wrapped her hand around Santana's when she sensed her discomfort, and her not-so-secret girlfriend shot her a small smile before narrowing her eyes back on Quinn, curious now.

"What changed? I mean, why are you so fucking gung ho to jump into your gayness now?"

Quinn shifted her stance, gaze flickering away from the others. The answer to that was…complicated, but ultimately, it had to do with something Rachel had said to her a long time ago.

#

"I mean…you saw and you…you just…got us towels?"

Brittany's brow wrinkled in her confusion at Quinn's question, but she nodded earnestly, and that's what made Quinn crack. Her legs refused to hold her weight any longer and she dropped to the bench, dropping the Cheerios top she'd been clutching to her chest and trading it for her face as she lost control and sobbed into her hands. Her back quaked with the effort, but within moments, she felt a gentle hand rubbing circles over the bare skin of the small of her back, and with it came a warm presence she knew well.

She still shivered when she heard the sweet voice murmur, "Hey, it's okay."

Quinn's head shot up from her hands and she leveled a stare of disbelief at the drenched diva sitting beside her, entirely forgetting the third party presence as she sobbed, "No, it's not! I'm not supposed to feel like this!"

Rachel seemed entirely unfazed, only continuing the soothing circles as a small smile curved her plump lips and she cooed, "But you do. And that's okay."

Her reaction was instant, like a reflex, and she wondered if that's what it was now. Whenever Rachel had an insight or wormed her way past Quinn's defenses, made her feel vulnerable, she lashed out. And she did now, though she regretted the harsh words as soon as they passed her lips.

"That's easy for you to say, with your perfect little gay Jewish family and your permanent status as high school's live-in social pariah," she spat, and buried her face in her hands again in her shame.

Rachel's hand stilled, but she only said, "Was that supposed to hurt me?"

She slowly, reluctantly, lifted her head enough to meet brown eyes with her watery hazel, and managed to whisper, "Did it?"

She merely shook her head once. "No."

Relief flooded her, relaxing her body as she nodded and hid in her hands again, cradling her forehead this time and mumbling, "Good."

She didn't have to look to know that Rachel was smiling as her hand resumed rubbing a lazy pattern up and down the line of her spine. Rachel shifted her body closer, until their moist knees were brushing, and Quinn hated herself for relishing in the closeness of the moment, for wanting to turn her head to capture her lips when she felt her breath warming her cheek.

"None of that matters, Quinn," Rachel said softly, distracting her from her self-loathing. "You're allowed to feel what you feel—even with your perfect little straight Christian family and your permanent status as high school's live-in queen." Her eyes shot to Rachel of their own accord, and a smirk briefly tugged at luscious lips before she sobered. "You have just as much right to feel what you do as me. It doesn't change how wonderful you are."

Quinn didn't know why, but those words, spoken with such sincerity and sweetness and _love_ …they broke her down again, and she was crumbling in Rachel's arms, burying herself in Rachel's neck and only wishing she could stay there forever, in the safety of her cocoon. Rachel cooed and shushed to her quietly, and moments after she had begun sobbing, she felt a warm towel being tucked around her shoulders, putting a slight barrier between her and Rachel. She clung to the wet shirt Rachel was wearing to prevent this atrocity, and soon enough a second pair of arms was wrapping around her and the towel from behind, and she could only cry harder at Brittany's unquestioning acceptance and Rachel's unconditional kindness and all the love she had just been wrapped in.

After she had ceased crying, Brittany gave them the workout clothes and the two changed before walking out to the parking lot as one unit. Brittany kissed Quinn's cheek when they exchanged a final hug, and after Brittany had disappeared down the road, Quinn offered Rachel nothing until later that night when she was tucked beneath her blankets, trying in vain to resist temptation.

When she gave in, it was with a single text.

_Auditorium at lunch tomorrow. – Q_

#

"That's not important," Quinn said softly, telling Santana silently that, well…it was too private to share. At least right now, with everyone else as witness. Perhaps she would tell her best friend later, when the gossipmongers of glee club weren't present. Right now, she needed to get things back on track. So she raised her voice and cast her gaze over the rest of them as she said, "I'm going to need an answer pretty soon here, people. Either you're going to help me or you're not."

Santana was the first to answer. Quinn watched her gaze go to Brittany still gripping her hand, affection entering her eyes as easily as a smile came to Brittany's face, and then the hard eyes were back on the Quinn and she answered with a firm nod.

"We got your back, Q," she said simply, raising her and Brittany's joined hands a little.

Brittany squealed and instantly tackled Santana in a hug, and Quinn laughed with them until the silent four caught her attention. They were all exchanging glances, seeming to be deliberating, and she scowled impatiently, wishing they would hurry it on up. She really did not have time for dilly-dallying.

"You really love Rachel?" Tina asked suddenly, and Quinn's nod was immediate.

"More than anything," she tacked on, and Tina softened, smiling as she glanced at her friends almost pleadingly.

They were silent again, until Mercedes said with a heavy sigh, "What do you need, girl?"

Quinn could not have stopped her grin if she tried, and she found herself surging forward to hug Mercedes in thanks. She seemed surprised by the sudden display of affection, but her arms went around her easily and Quinn felt a laugh shake her stomach, and soon they were both laughing and everyone was chattering at once.

"You are crafty as hell, you know that?" Mercedes teased, while Brittany squealed, "Rach is gonna be so happy!"

"We're gonna make her pudding in Q's hands," Santana said determinedly.

"Do you know what song you're gonna do?" Tina asked excitedly.

"Do you people know what this _means_?" Kurt exclaimed suddenly, and they all stared until he elaborated. "I am not the only gay kid at this school anymore!"

Laughter shook the gymnasium and they were back at it, Quinn explaining her song choice to Tina, Kurt, and Mercedes while Santana and Brittany were already discussing various choreography they could work in, but all the merriment was brought to a halt when Artie called for attention.

"What are you going to do about the guys?" he asked seriously, and Quinn's brow furrowed.

"Uh…I already talked to Mike and Matt, and they agreed to help. They apparently already knew. They seem to know everything, actually, it's a little disturbing," she confided to the rest of them, and eyebrows popped up in agreement all over the place.

Artie shook his head. "No, no. I mean, _the_ guys. Finn and Puck."

A dropped pin would've sounded like an atomic bomb in that gymnasium. All eyes went to Quinn, who sighed heavily and ran a restless hand through her golden locks.

"Puck knows I'm not interested. He might be surprised by this turn of events, but overall I'm not too concerned about him," she said with a shrug. "Finn, on the other hand…I've thought about it a lot over the past few days. He's going to get hurt one way or another, but telling him both truths at once might just send him over the edge. I don't want to do that."

There were nods of agreement, and Brittany rubbed her shoulder comfortingly.

"I think the best thing is to keep everything under wraps until after Sectionals, then drop the news about breaking up and me and Rachel. And then eventually, maybe, I can tell him about the baby." She shrugged helplessly again, looking around at all of them. "That's the best I have."

Mercedes smiled and offered her fist to bump. "We got your back, girl."

Needless to say, fists were bumped and hugs were exchanged, and Quinn couldn't remember grinning this much while in the company of anyone other than Rachel.

#

The next day, the bell rang at precisely 2:55 p.m. and the McKinley high schoolers abruptly burst from their classrooms like Thoroughbreds on a racetrack. Except for a select few, including a certain feisty Latina, who sidled up in stride with a tall Asian boy and his counterpart in a wheelchair. A few moments later, a bouncy blonde joined them and exchanged a smirk and a smile with her girlfriend before they linked pinkies and Santana commented, "It's on."

Artie promptly added, "Like Donkey Kong."

The other three halted and stared at him, a raised eyebrow on Santana's forehead. Artie cringed sheepishly, trying in vain to hide in his chair.

"Don't ever say that again," Santana said simply, tugging on Brittany's pinkie before they were off again. "Everyone know what we're doing?"

Brittany spied a short brunette speed walking in the opposite direction and chirruped, "On it!" She planted a kiss on her girlfriend's cheek before bouncing away after Rachel.

"Mike?" Santana prompted, wiping the smile from her face abruptly in favor of wearing her much-feared (for good reason) Head Bitch face.

He nodded hastily, but said nothing. She frowned at him.

"You and Matt. Couple of freaks," she mumbled, then fell back to grab the handles of Artie's wheelchair. "Let's roll."

"Ha _ha_ , you're so punny," he snarked back.

#

At 2:57 p.m., Will Schuester walked out of his classroom with his stack full of papers to be graded for the evening, already running through the exercises the glee club would have to go through this evening. Er, well, the exercises he would be having Ms. Pillsbury run them through while he stood by as a non-participatory advisor. Sectionals was on Saturday, and it was a lot of pressure. They had so much to do and so very little time to—

"Watch out, _sucka_!" a familiar voice screeched, and Mr. Schue looked up just in time to nearly be run over by a blur of red and white on wheels as it zoomed by and every single paper that had been in his hands went flying over the hallway. He could only gape as the floor was whitewashed with papers from every grade, every single one of his seven classes… _so_ many papers.

It took a moment for the shock to dissipate before he sprang into action and started picking them up, muttering under his breath about his marriage falling apart followed by everything else in his life.

"Mr. Schue! We're so glad we caught you!" someone suddenly yelled, and he looked up to be met with none other than Mike and Matt.

His jaw dropped. He had never heard them speak before, yet Mike was now jabbering… _something_ or other about not understanding the Spanish homework and how you conjugate adjectives, and neither of them was bothering to help pick up the papers. Matt was actually standing on a few.

Mr. Schue sighed. His long afternoon had just gotten that much more torturous.

#

Santana brushed off her Cheerios skirt furiously as soon as she and Artie had brought the wheelchair to a safe and complete stop around the corner. Artie rolled his eyes before rolling himself toward the choir room. She fell into step beside him, but still kept brushing her ass off.

"Last time you get that privilege, Abrams," she spat. "Never sitting in your lap again. Q _owes_ me for that one, and the whole 'you're helping me get the love of my life back' shit isn't gonna do this time. Flippin' nasty."

He rolled his eyes again. Sometimes he really did wonder where he got the patience to put up with these people.

#

Meanwhile, across the building, Mercedes and Tina walked up to Finn and Puck. They exchanged glances and nods.

"Hey, guys," Mercedes greeted, and both boys tossed nods to the ladies.

"Listen, Mr. Schuester said glee club is cancelled today," Tina recited, smiling. "So we thought we'd let you know."

Puck frowned, brow knitting. "But Sectionals is in like two days..."

"He said overworking wouldn't do us any good, either," Mercedes said simply.

Finn and Puck exchanged a glance, then nodded.

"Cool."

"Sweet."

"Later, ladies."

Mercedes and Tina bumped fists as they brushed past them.

#

And somewhere nearby, Kurt Hummel slipped into Ms. Pillsbury's office while she was out talking to a faculty member, opened up the trendy trench coat he purchased only two months ago—so it wasn't _too_ horrid to be seen in—and pulled out a slushie, which he promptly poured all over the woman's desk and the seats surrounding it before creeping out unnoticed.

The gasp of the redheaded guidance counselor echoed down the hallway when she reentered the room.

#

At exactly 2:59 p.m., when Rachel Berry had completed her after-school routine of going to her locker, organizing her books, packing away her things for the evening, and marched off toward the choir room to arrive precisely at 3:00 p.m., Brittany Pierce charged around the corner, tears streaming down her face.

Rachel was instantly alarmed. "Brittany, what's wrong?"

She rushed toward the other girl, gathering her in her arms—well, as well as she could gather anyone in her arms with her short stature. Brittany bent down, sobbing into her neck, and Rachel cooed gently, rubbing her back in long, soothing strokes, as she knew Brittany liked.

"What happened, sweetie?" she asked concernedly. "Is it Santana?" Her arms tightened at the thought.

Honestly, if Santana didn't straighten up her behavior with Brittany and just _get it right_ for once, Rachel was going to have to have a talk with her. Let it be known that she did not relish this thought, but she would do it for the blonde in her arms.

"N-no, it's…it's…." Brittany hiccupped as she pulled back, wiping her cheeks and sniffling, and Rachel squeezed her arm encouragingly. "It's Kermie!"

Her brow crinkled instantly. "Kermie?"

"Yes! My stuffed lamb?" Brittany sobbed, looking aghast that Rachel could forget such a thing.

"Oh, right." She felt horrid, of course, but in her defense, Brittany had a _lot_ of stuffed animals. "Well, what…what happened to Kermie, Britt?"

"I…I…I _lost_ him! I'm a bad mommy!"

And Brittany broke down sobbing again, clutching Rachel to her and washing her neck with salty tears. Rachel was even more confused, but she quickly went back to stroking Brittany's back and shushing her.

"Oh, no. No, honey, you're not a bad mommy," she assured her. And then, even though she knew this wasn't exactly the best time to ask a question like this…well, she was Rachel Berry. Sometimes it just comes out. "But…you had him at school?"

Brittany jerked back again, bobbing her head. "Yeah, cause San said we were gonna have show and tell today. That's not what she meant," she said sagely.

Rachel's nose wrinkled of its own accord. "Oh. Um. Well, where did you last have him?"

"That's the problem! I can't remember!" She was weeping uncontrollably again, and Rachel popped up on her tiptoes, kissing her temple to calm her down a little before glancing at her watch. 3:02 p.m.

The perfectionist in her died a little inside, but she couldn't just leave Brittany like this…. She heaved a sigh, linking their arms as she turned Brittany down the hallway.

"Look, we'll retrace your steps from the beginning of the day, and maybe along the way we'll find wherever you left him," she said, raising her voice until it sounded as upbeat as she wished she felt.

Brittany perked up instantly, eyes bright. "Really? You would do that for me?"

Rachel smiled genuinely. "Of course I would, Brittany."

Brittany squealed and grabbed her in the biggest hug possible before they were on their way.

#

It turned out the power of Brittany hugs only lasted so long, because at 3:13 p.m., Rachel was getting antsy to get to the choir room, and they were only to between third and fourth period, where Brittany had stopped for a bathroom break before she saw a squirrel through the window and went outside. This did not bode well for Kermie.

"And…I think I went outside through this door," Brittany said, gesturing to the one they were standing at.

Rachel fidgeted impatiently and smiled patiently, about ready to burst from the contradiction she was becoming.

"And I couldn't find the squirrel," she said thoughtfully. "So I went over to—"

"Hey, um, Brittany, do you think that maybe we should get to glee club? They've probably already started and…we can always continue to search for Kermie afterward," Rachel placated, squeezing her arm and smiling again.

Brittany blinked. "Glee club?"

Rachel frowned slowly. "Yes, we have a meeting that started at 3:00 this afternoon. In the choir room."

"Which way is that?" Brittany asked, and Rachel's frown deepened as she turned to look down the hall.

Unbeknownst to her, Brittany was using the distraction to check the time on her watch. Her expression went blank as soon as Rachel turned back to her, still scowling suspiciously. Brittany had her blonde moments, but she wasn't _stupid_. She was…she was hiding something; Rachel's sixth sense was tingling with it. Her hands went on her hips instantly as she sternly faced Brittany.

"It's…that way. Brittany, what's going on?" she demanded.

Suddenly Brittany was clapping, squealing with excitement, and Rachel's eyes went wide in surprise as she was wrapped in a hug.

"Rachel, you're a genius! I was in the choir room earlier; I must've left him there! Let's go!"

"But Britt—whoa!"

Turns out blonde cheerleaders are surprisingly strong, and Rachel worked those little legs as hard as she could just to keep her arm from getting pulled from its socket.

#

It was 3:15 p.m. exactly, and Brittany burst through the choir room door with a panting Rachel in tow, not giving her any time to take in her surroundings (or breathe) as she pulled her to a stop in front of the piano bench and plopped her down. Rachel gasped for air.

"Brittany, you could at least warn someone before…you…what…." Her eyes went wide as she looked past the grinning blonde at her side, and found the choir room a little bit, well, different than usual.

The lights were slightly dimmed, some even had a reddish hue now, and the chairs had been taken from the risers, which were set up with two separate microphones on either end, on the middle riser. The piano itself had been pushed aside so there was nothing but empty space between Rachel and the risers, and the band was waiting to the side. There also happened to be a bouquet of red roses resting next to Rachel on the piano bench.

And then there was the glee club. The girls were all in red dresses of the same shade, but different cuts and styles, while the two boys present were clad in black pants and shirts with red ties. Standing at one microphone were Mercedes and Tina, and at the other, Santana waited with a surprisingly large smile. Artie and Kurt had taken up positions at the top of the risers, creating a pentagon, the point of which was one Quinn Fabray, who was standing on the lowest riser with a microphone and a rose in either hand.

Rachel's jaw may as well have been dragging the floor. Her mouth only dropped open further when Brittany quickly started shedding her Cheerios uniform. Her relief upon finding a red dress beneath it was immense, but she was right back to shock when Brittany bounced up the risers to Santana's microphone. The two exchanged a kiss, and Rachel blinked rapidly as her gaze traveled back to a sheepish Quinn Fabray.

Who was still there. In a flattering red dress that barely concealed her baby bump, holding a microphone and a red rose.

"What…?" was the only thing that made it past Rachel's brain. Everything else was stuck inside it, whirling around and around like a blender that only spun faster and faster, and the only person who could reach the plug to stop it was standing before her with sparkling hazel eyes and a nervous smile, not moving an inch.

"Quinn!" Santana barked suddenly, and all occupants of the room seemed to jump simultaneously. "We got you this far, the rest is you. So speak the fuck up!"

Quinn abruptly cleared her throat and did an about-face, meeting Rachel's eyes with more purpose this time, and Rachel could only wait as she took a deep breath.

"Right. Um. I messed up, Rachel," she began earnestly. "I think we both know that, and I think we both know that I don't deserve you, or another chance with you."

Rachel glanced uncertainly at the others, who smiled on obliviously. "Quinn, everyone's—"

"I know they are," she assured her, smiling understandingly. "I hope you won't be too upset that I…I told them about us. Well, actually, Brittany told them at my request, so I could do all this for you." Rachel's eyes went wide, but Quinn merely gestured around the room, then allowed her gaze to land back on Rachel, a small smile quirking her lips again. "It's not even a fifth of what you deserve, but it's what I came up with on somewhat short notice."

"It's amazing," Rachel breathed, almost involuntarily, and a grin graced Quinn's lips, however briefly.

"Look, I've been lying to you for months, Rachel," she said, voice shaking, and Rachel's amazement quickly flipped into a scowl of confusion and reflexive anger. "I told you I didn't want you, that you didn't mean anything to me but sex, that I…you were my dirty little secret. When the truth is, you're…you're everything, Rachel. I'm so in love with you it hurts, and I want to give you everything you deserve, which means no more…no more running and hiding. And I'm starting with this. I know it's not enough to make up for the way I've treated you, but it's just a start…and I'll do anything for you, for one more chance."

Quinn reached to flick away a shiny spot on her cheek, embarrassed by her show of emotion. Rachel could see it in the way her cheeks went pink and her smile turned shy, her gaze dropping. Rachel wasn't so guarded, however, and she sniffled and wiped unabashedly at her cheeks and nose with her sleeve. Because it was all so overwhelming and…surreal. Quinn was saying, doing _everything_ she had ever wanted her to, and she didn't even know how to begin to respond to it.

Her mouth opened and closed a few times as she struggled for the words to express what she was feeling, but her mind was still a blender, and Quinn held up a hand.

"B-before you say anything. There's…one last thing."

She smiled anxiously again, and Rachel slowly nodded, giving her the go-ahead for whatever it was she had planned. Quinn flicked on her microphone and tossed a nod to the band, which started up the music that instantly went into a crescendo, leading up to Quinn's entrance as she pranced forward and began with energy.

" _Just like it's snowing in the summertime, something's different and I can't explain it. It's like I'm breathing in sunshine, it's taking over and I can't contain it_." She shot a blinding smile at Rachel, evidently gaining confidence from the blush on her ex-lover's cheeks, and, still facing her girl, waltzed to the risers and started up as she continued, " _This love is changing me, it brought me to my knees, now it's teaching my to fly_."

As she held onto the last note, the band started in on a quick, upbeat tempo while the girls instantly started harmonizing with Quinn, each putting a hand on the hip facing Rachel as they jerked them in and out in dance moves almost directly out of their performance of Halo/Walking On Sunshine. The spotlights came on and the boys joined in the dancing and singing as soon as the chorus kicked in with Quinn hopping to the middle riser and belting, " _That's how it feels to be with you, it's like I'm finally alive, that's how it feels to be with you_."

Only the boys sang the echo of this last line, while Quinn pranced over to Santana and shared the microphone as they crooned, " _I always thought I was invincible, I never knew that I was waiting on a break-through. My heart was always only half-full, until the moment that I finally found you_."

At this, Santana popped away to smack a kiss on Brittany's lips, and Quinn made eye contact with Rachel again, a wide grin spreading across her face.

" _It's everything I dreamed, even more it seems, to fall into your arms_ ," she continued, the girls joining in again as she continued down the risers, toward Rachel. " _That's how it feels to be with you, it's like I'm finally alive, that's how it feels to be with you._ "

Again the boys sang the echo, and then it was only the girls who sang, in unison, " _How it feels, my heart can't deny, how it feels_ " before they all leapt back into the chorus, until Quinn took over again, singing with all her might, rose stem pressed to her chest as though to help gather all the air she needed, " _How it feels to be with you, dyna-my heart can't deny, how it feels to be with you_."

The rest of them joined in to harmonize with more repeats of the chorus, Quinn taking a breather before belting, " _I can never get enough_ " three times, over top of them before she finished the song alone with the band, " _To be with you_."

The glee club burst into cheers at the end, clapping each other on the back in appreciation for how well everyone had done—especially for throwing that together in about a day—and, in some cases, making out against the back wall. Rachel and Quinn ignored all that, the former only staring at the latter with tears streaking down her cheeks, an almost vacant expression taking hold. Quinn was panting, gulping down air with a hopeful glint in her beautiful hazel eyes as she flicked off her microphone and handed it to an obliging band member before turning back to Rachel.

Eventually, the others seemed to remember what this was all about, and quieted down to watch for Rachel's reaction to what Quinn had done for her. Quinn stepped quietly—or, well, as quietly as high heels allowed on tiled floors—to where she sat on the piano bench, and gradually lowered herself to her knees, settling the rose carefully across Rachel's lap. Not forcing it on her, offering it to her.

"I love you, Rachel," she said, softly, and Rachel sniffled, wiping her cheeks. "I want to be with you, in public, and if your offer is still open, I would really like to move in with you."

Quinn sat back on her heels and smiled weakly, gesturing as though to say 'that's it.' Because it was all she had, and if Rachel didn't accept it, she didn't know what she would do, but at least she would know she'd tried her hardest. At length, Rachel swiped her sleeve across her nose and let out a small sob before she said, trying and failing at angry, "You play dirty, you know that, Fabray?"

Quinn's eyes lifted with hope, and when Rachel surged forward, she instantly rose onto her knees to meet her halfway in a desperate kiss, cupping her cheeks. There was a collective 'aww' throughout the room, but the two paid no mind, only breaking away for centimeters before coming back and pressing a kiss to a different section of the other's lips, repeating the pattern over and over until Quinn held her firmly in place for a moment, savoring the feel and taste of her, and then pulled back with a watery grin, stroking her fingers delicately along her jawline.

"That was the corniest thing I've ever seen," Rachel said flatly, still trying and failing to sound tough.

The glee club laughed simultaneously, and even Quinn was chuckling quietly before she said affectionately, "You like corny."

"I love you," Rachel acquiesced, and they kissed once more before sinking into each other's embrace, burying noses in neck and hair, soaking each other in.

The moment was, again, broken, but this time by the sound of a squealing, bouncing, clapping blonde cheerleader.

"Eee! They're finally together, San! Now we can go on double dates and everything! I always wanted to go on a double date with Rachel!" she yelped excitedly, practically jumping on top of her girlfriend, who grinned.

"As long as Fabray is paying, I'm in," she agreed, shrugging.

Quinn pulled back enough from Rachel to roll her eyes at her best friend.

Mercedes chuckled. "I'm really happy for you guys. I thought it was weird at first, but you're actually kinda cute."

"Thanks, Mercedes," Rachel said sincerely, a blush painting her cheeks as Quinn grasped her hand and raised them both to their feet, the rose dangling in Rachel's free hand.

"I would have to agree. I can't wait to see Finn and Puck's faces," Tina said with a giggle, and Rachel instantly looked up at Quinn, worry in her eyes.

"Shouldn't we wait until after Sectionals? This might be a lot for them to take in all at once," she suggested uneasily, and Quinn grinned while the rest of them laughed. Rachel frowned, even as her now official girlfriend pressed a kiss to her forehead. "What? Why are you all laughing?"

"Let's just say things are just starting to make sense," Artie said, winking.

"That was my plan," Quinn murmured to Rachel, who blushed and smiled.

"I'm just so happy," Kurt interjected, dabbing at his eyes. "I'm not alone anymore."

There were a few 'aww's as people rubbed the emotional boy's shoulders and chuckled to themselves.

"Rachel," Brittany said seriously, cutting into the amusement in the room.

Her instant reaction was concern. "Yes, Brittany? What is it?"

"I'm really sorry I lied to you about Kermie," she said sagely.

Santana grinned at her, and Rachel melted as she exchanged a fond smile with Quinn before marching across the room and enveloping Brittany in the biggest hug she was capable of.

"That's all right, Brittany." Rachel pulled back enough to offer her a large grin. "We all know Kermie's as much of a romantic as you are. Though not nearly as good a matchmaker."

Brittany smiled.


End file.
